Rising tensions and battlefield casualties deepen uncertainty over March integration agreement as Syria’s new government pulls out of planned Paris talks.
A Syrian government soldier has been killed in fresh clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo province, according to the state news agency SANA, citing the Ministry of Defence. The incident on Tuesday marks another setback for a fragile March integration deal aimed at merging the SDF into Syria’s national armed forces—a move intended to help reunite the war-torn nation after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in December.
The Defence Ministry accused the SDF of violating the accord and warned that “continuation of these actions will lead to new consequences.” At the heart of the dispute is how the SDF should be incorporated: the Kurdish-led force insists on joining as a bloc, while Damascus demands that fighters enlist individually.
Amid the escalating tensions, President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government announced it would boycott upcoming meetings with the SDF in Paris. Still, diplomatic contact has not entirely broken down—Syria’s foreign minister reportedly met a senior Kurdish administration official in Damascus on Tuesday, sources told AFP.
The SDF, once the United States’ main ally in the fight against ISIL (ISIS) in Syria, claims that pro-government factions attacked northeastern territories more than 22 times in recent days. While the group says it has shown restraint, it warns that repeated assaults “threaten mutual trust and undermine understandings.”
The clashes come as the new Syrian government grapples with internal unrest, including sectarian violence that erupted on July 13 in the southern province of Suwayda between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Government forces were deployed to contain the conflict, but violence escalated further when Israel carried out air strikes on Syrian troops and hit central Damascus, citing the need to protect the Druze community.
With tensions simmering on multiple fronts, the path to national reunification appears increasingly fraught—underscored by the fact that both battlefield hostility and political mistrust now threaten to unravel the fragile integration framework.